It’s almost time for Game 1 of the 2026 Hokie Football season, and that means that it’s time for Bryan and John to go out on a limb and commit to predicting the results of the game. Look, sort of a total disaster this is going to be a win, but there are “issues” that we need to discuss.
We Often Forget from Wence We Came
Those of us about to pass into Virginia Tech’s Old Guard (50th anniversary) remember. Back in the seasons before 1985, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute Fighting Gobblers played a football schedule that looked more
like a 1-AA setup than a 1-A slate of opponents. Tech played a very regional schedule and routinely played (now FCS) opponents like Richmond, William & Mary, and of course the big Thanksgiving rivalry game played in Roanoke, between VPI and VMI. It was the military classic of the South. For many decades prior to the 1960s, Tech was a nearly completely military school. Civilian student matriculation had started in the mid 20th century, but the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets still dominated the non-academic student life of the undergraduate classes.
The football team played a mixed bag of opponents, and up until Bill Dooley changed the name of the athletic program to Virgina Tech (officially) and stopped scheduling so many 1-AA programs the VMI game remained a critical hinge pin game.
Personal Note: This game really means something personal to those of us who spent any number of years in the VTCC. (’77-‘79 for yours truly) As Freshmen (we were called ‘Rats’, and we were proud of being so named) we were required to sit on the front quarter of our chairs at a brace and square corners when we ate (if we ever got the chance to actually do so, that is…). That sort of discipline has some unfortunate effects, one of which is dropping bits of food on to your uniform while attempting to hit your mouth with whatever was on your fork. What developed was the tradition of wearing a handkerchief (cloth snot locker for youth who haven’t a clue as to what one of those is) with a corner tucked into the neck of your uniform shirt. It was called a “Sail” and as long as you wore it, you ate at a brace. Well, if Tech beat VMI for the big Thanksgiving Day game. As a quick aside, the game location changed by the time I was a Rat. But a win against the VeeMees meant not having to stuff your sail into your garrison cap and wear it during formation meals (Breakfast and Dinner). Tech beat VMI on Thanksgiving Weekend 27-7 (Nov 25th) in 1977, so when we came home from break -in a huge snowstorm- we were free of our sails.
On a final note of rivalry history though, the last time these two teams faced off against each other was an October 6, 1984, game played in Norfolk. Tech won that one and then started moving on to ever more Division 1-A opponents (FBS, today) with each successive season. Dooley rather involuntarily left under a cloud after the 1986 season and the program hired Frank Beamer to run the team as it navigated the rough waters of transition from half 1-AA to fully 1-A.
There didn’t seem to be a huge amount of interest in reigniting the old rivalry, even as Tech often faced one FCS team a season. Someone picked up the notion of revisiting the saber trophy and perhaps helping out VMI with some media money.
So, here we are, waiting for a big-time night entrance with an Orange Effect going on to start the season against our old military classic of the south rivals the Virginia Military Institute.
It’s Orange Everything for This One
The Hokies are pushing the maximum Burnt Orange image for this one.
Looks Like the Number of Hokies in the NFL is…
Pretty big this season. Though some of the team uniforms have changed. Tremaine is now with the Giants and Divine is wearing Falcons colors this season. And of course, Tyrod has become the absolute king of journeyman backup quarterbacks with a trip out to Green Bay for a Packers helmet to go with his collection.
Time for the Staff Predictions
We always start off with a general set of situational game conditions and givens. VMI is definitely an FCS Division 1 team. It’s very surprising that Tech signed a contract to play them since most football analysts would write this one up to a boring drubbing of a cupcake team.
That would be the case, if the Hokie football program was intact and continuous under successful coaching and program management. That hasn’t been the case for quite a while and add to that headache VMI runs a version of the Paul Johnson honed Triple-Option offense that Army uses to run the ball down opponents’ throats and Navy has gone back to. That offense presents three very distinct game execution problems that Tech has been very poor at dealing with.
The first is the ability for the option to gain 3 to 4 yards per down, on the ground, burning clock and limiting the other team’s chances to even touch the ball.
The ability to nearly guarantee 3 to 4 yards per run also makes 4th down a live play in many situations, and not a punt. That means keeping the defense on the field in a tough guessing mode for one extra play for each series of a possession.
The ambush pass has bitten more than one opponent of a T-O team right square in the rear end, including Bud Foster’s best defenses.
This game might be very surprising if the Hokies can’t snuff out T-O drives, fast.
Bryan Manning
It’s finally here. The James Franklin era begins on Saturday, and it’s under the lights at Lane. This feels more like an exhibition for the Hokies. Hopefully they treat it as much more than that. The spread is 55 points. I just don’t see that. The Hokies will work out some kinks early, but this game will not be close.
Hokies 48, Keydets 6
John Schneider
This is not going to be a straightforward game. This is going to be VMI’s “Super Bowl” and very few FBS teams can structurally deal with a well-executed triple option offense. That means something in this one. The reason why is pretty simple. They are a total cupcake, and Tech is supposed to be dominant in all phases of the game. That sets up a trap, not necessarily a trap for a loss, but a trap for a game far closer and lower scoring than most analysts and fans would like.
The Hokies can consider this a decent enough win only if they score every time the possess the ball, drive the ball down the field efficiently and provide a good quality Garbage Time second half for the team to use to hone skills for the #2s and #3s who almost never get into games even when they should be able to.
So, will the Hokies contain and stop the triple-option, and will their offense get off its past inabilities to pass the ball to intermediate targets, and score? I just don’t have a feel for that now.
I do know that if the Hokies haven’t scored between 28 and 35 points by the end of the 1st half, things about the team are going to get interesting very fast.
Hokies Take it, though: 42-10
